Alleged Car-Bike Accident Has Los Gatos Police Asking Public to File Reports in Timely Manner

A woman claims a bicyclist hit her car the morning of Oct. 14 at the intersection of Wedgewood Avenue and Lora Drive in Los Gatos and is now hoping her insurance company will pay for the damages, according to a police report.

The only problem is that Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police have no way of verifying what the driver of the 2013 Hyundai Elantra is saying because she filed a report about the alleged wreck on Nov. 1—18 days after the supposed accident.

Police dispatchers did record the woman contacting them about it 14 hours after it occurred, but she didn't want a report written at the time, said Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police traffic Sgt. Steve Walpole.

"We have not independent verification about the accident, or the actions of the involved people after the accident," Sgt. Walpole explained.

Still, according to the report, the bicyclist hit the car and reportedly told the driver he didn't want police or an ambulance called because he was at fault.

The driver claims she took the bicyclist to Good Samaritan Hospital after he complained of having cracked ribs and a collapsed lung, according to the report. 

However, when the driver contacted the hospital to see how the bicyclist was doing, the hospital said he was not a patient there, the report said.

"This report was written by the driver of the car, so there is no independent way to verify any of the statements made," Walpole said. "There was no determination of fault since the police never investigated the accident."

The odd incident, according to Sgt. Walpole, is that it's one of those peculiar situations where one person reports an accident long after it's occurred.

And police were never contacted by the bicyclist, so the department only has the driver’s written statement or opinion, Walpole said.

"This case was reported for insurance reasons only and there is no plan to use police resources to investigate this case," he added.